Mirra — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I was OVER THE MOON excited to try this place - and then we were seated at our table. I don't like making a fuss about my birthday - no alerts or heads up at restaurants, just a quiet, exciting meal with lots of good conversation and perhaps even some banter with the waitstaff on a night when it can be afforded. So, in my typical fashion, I didn't and now I'm wondering if that's where I went wrong?

My friend and I walked in on Saturday understanding there would probably be a wait and we were right, an hour and fifteen minutes. So we went down the street to Truce and had a great set of starters, drinks, and got a ton of recommendations from Rami; one of the members of the staff, since I'm new to the city. Once we were done there, we walked back to Mirra and were seated at our table and it seemed as though most everything had calmed down and was a bit more manageable. But I guess not? It took 15 minutes for our server to even acknowledge we were there. At which time, we just decided to put in our entire order rather than just drinks to avoid any other potential bumps throughout the meal. To be fair, our appetizers; the aguachile and roasted beets were absolutely phenomenal. My friend absolutely HATES beets, but I assured her that the goat cheese pairing and notes of poblano pepper would absolutely blow her mind and boy oh boy was I right. Give me 14 of them. My old fashioned and her margartia once it finally came out after the server checking on us for a second time of it not coming out? Wonderful. Could not be happier with the TASTE of things.

But outside of that, we largely felt like an afterthought. Our server would check on us (and we started keeping count) every third time she visited her three or four other tables. And I mean just straight up walking by our table and starting a check-in with others. Then, my friend's food got delivered but it was as if the server hadn't put mine in and didn't want to take accountability for that or something? My friend had time to eat her entire plate of food, finish her drink (she's a lightweight and typically it takes her an entire meal to finish anything), go to the bathroom and come back before our server even bothered to ask where my food was/if it had come out yet. But what REALLY bugged me was that we watched table after table get their order of the lamb barbacoa biryani (which, again, don't get me wrong, when it finally came out was phenomenal) and still, no mention or assurance that mine was coming out soon until it finally did and somehow the first few bites were cold. Which, when you see the damn dish, you'll be left as dumbfounded as I was. My friend suggested I mix the food together a little more so it'd warm up and that helped, but it shouldn't have been an issue in the first place and I just - didn't finish the meal. We paid. We got up. And honestly, probably won't go back to Mirra again. Not because the food wasn't absolutely amazing, but because how do you not take accountability for such a lackluster experience as you can see your clientele visibly uncomfortable because of your actions.

I just feel like things like this shouldn't happen. Especially not at places you're REALLY looking forward to going, even if the wait time is an hour. Definitely not at places where you don't make a fuss about any of the glaring issues that keep compounding on top of each other. And absolutely not on the eve of...

Came in for brunch my first time with a friend that was visiting from out of town and will absolutely be back. We had made reservations the day before for noon, but ended up coming by earlier and were easily accommodated by the host. No fuss about us showing up too early or it being any kind of inconvenience.. given they just earned a Michelin, we were totally prepared to have to come back at our original reservation time.

Everything on the menu looks so fun and the portions are perfect if you want to try a few different things without needing to offer every single dish to feel full. This is truly a perfect fusion of Indian and Mexican flavors, presented in an elevated yet comforting way. You may recognize some of the components as dishes you grew up eating, but then you'll be taken off on a tangent .. so here's the breakdown of the food:

Mirra mezze : a collection of 4 chutneys served with a variety of papaddum (papar) - The chutneys and guac were great. The homemade tomatillo achaar slight smokey, slightly sweet was absolutely delicious..however didnt quiet make sense as a dip, the guac was just usual guac, nothing to write home about but delicious none the less- the pumpkin seed chutney and smoked salsa were my two favorite chutneys and truly dips..but then that brings me to the every annoying tactic of service papar as a "chip" to dip into these chutneys.. traditionally in india papad is served along with rice during your main course so you can crumble it up and mix it into each bite for a little bit of a crunch. Restaurants that serve up papar as an appetizer or a "free" chip to munch on are honestly just being lazy.. papars are way too delicate to break into properly sized chips and fall apart as soon as you try to scoop any kind of chutney up with it. That's not its purpose and it doesnt work. These chutneys are way too good to be spoiled with the experience of crumbling papar into them and not being able to actually eat anything.

French Toast with dollat ki chaat foam was truly one of the best french toasts I've ever had.. For those who arent familiar with the dish- dollat ki chaat is a Lucknowi speciality found on the streets in winters and is nothing like you've ever had. Light and fluffy, the whipped part of whipped whole milk scooped up and generously flavored with saffron and rose water its honestly a dessert from the heavens. And the incredible caramlization from the jaggery gave the french toast an incredible smokey, sultry, not overly sweet crunch that was perfect with the custardy softness of the custard soaked bread. 100/10

Idli Crabs benedict.. with all the familiar fragrances of a goan crab curry, slathered over a pillowy idly but topped off with a poached egg. Now the dish had all the potential of being a 10/10- but the dish came to our table rather cold, the egg had hardened, the curry had cooled.. someone definitely forgot to bring it out when it was ready, but shit happens so no big deal. I do wish this dish had come out before the french toast so that would have been our closing experience, but i'll be back so...

There are two types of fusion restaurants: the ones that blend flavors so well you forget where one cuisine ends and the other begins and then there’s Mirra, where the food is more of an ugly cultural custody battle.

Let’s start with the scene. Packed. Loud. Everyone’s just a little too dressed up for how close their elbows are to strangers. I counted four Rolexes within arm’s reach and watched a grown man, mid-40s, easy, stage an entire cocktail photoshoot like he was about to soft launch a new personality. Someone else had their bit loafers halfway off and their bare dogs pointed directly into my periphery. I didn’t know where to look, and I genuinely missed the days when people just ate their dinner.

Space-wise, it’s not a shoebox, but you wouldn’t know it. They’ve crammed tables in so tight I elbowed a servers and bus boys four times throughout the night just trying to shift my posture like a normal human being.

Speaking of cocktails: they read like performance art. One Old Fashioned had eight ingredients. Eight. It tasted like… an Old Fashioned. A good one, sure, but I don’t need a spice parade in my whiskey if you’re gonna omit the cherry.

There was the music. You know that scene in every Bollywood movie where the wedding suddenly becomes a choreographed dance number? It felt like that, only we never got the choreography. Just loud. Bollywood banger into Bad Bunny into back to Bollywood. It was giving Dhoom meets DJ Khaled.

Food-wise, I came in expecting Indian-Latin fusion, but it played more like a culinary tug-of-war. This one’s Indian. That one’s Latin. Nothing really collaborated. The only through-line? Crunch. Every. Single. Dish. came with a crispy topping like the kitchen was running a texture subscription service. And in a tapas-style setup where you’re encouraged to order three dishes per person, that sameness starts to blur. By plate two, it felt like I was eating different formats of the same idea. By plate four, I was wondering if this was the fusion all along—a crunchy sameness masquerading as variety.

And now, the bone marrow. Let me paint the picture: a blank-slate bone, weak seasoning, flanked by corn tortillas. No salt, no acid, no garnish except crunch and edible flowers—just vibes.

But then, plot twist—the Cornish hen and scallop tacos. Cheapest entrée and appetizer on the menu, but both came out swinging. Flavorful, filling, and the only thing that didn’t feel like a pitch deck for a concept restaurant. I’d go back for that those. Maybe.

To be clear: the staff was hustling, and I respect that. But the overall experience felt like being at a party where you don’t know anyone and the playlist is stressing you out.

Mirra wants to be bold, but somewhere along the way, it...